I was climbing the long ridge west of Mount Clark. It was one of those mornings where the sunlight is burnished with a keen wind and long feathers of cloud move in a lofty sky. The silver light turned every blade of grass and every particle of sand into a luminous metallic splendor; there was […] Read more

Babe Ruth had a lifetime batting average of .342, one of the top seven highest in baseball history. His presence is still felt in Yankee Stadium, and many of his marks are still unchallenged. His love affair with the crowd lasted for 22 years, and he always played with heart. He has a record lifetime […] Read more

The speckles in the Pacific night sky were bombers. Nine twin-engine Japanese bombers, in formation, on course to their target: the aircraft carrier Lexington. Butch O’Hare could see them all clearly from the cockpit of his Grumman Wildcat F4F. He was their lone-wolf pursuer, tagging along in the darkness. If he did not seize the […] Read more

Sir Walter Scott is the author of a novel about the ghost of Baldoon Castle. The Bride of Lammermuir tells the story of a woman forced by her parents to abandon the love of her life. She was made to marry David Dunbar but then went insane on her wedding night and stabbed him. Since […] Read more

Barbara Streisand won an Academy Award in 1973 for her role in the film, The Way We Were. This was followed in 1976 by the box-office hit A Star is Born. In a bold first, she produced and stared in the film, which went on to win six Golden Globes. Topping the charts and quadruple-platinum […] Read more

Barbara was born 73 years ago to nightclub owner and article producer Lou Walters and his wife, Dena. The couple had already lost a son and had an older daughter who was mildly retarded. The family bounced back and forth from Boston to Miami to New York, where they lived in penthouses until her father […] Read more

The Beach Boys are an American rock group famous for songs about surfing in California, cars, and love. The band began perfecting their rich vocal harmonies in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. Carl, Dennis, and Brian Wilson, in partnership with their friend Al Jardine and cousin Mike Love, rose to international fame in the mid-1960s with […] Read more

The nine great symphonies by Beethoven have the popularity and emotional interest that none can rival. Mozart and Haydn put music on a pedestal, but Beethoven took it down and immersed it in life. He transformed it into a language to evoke emotions, express problems, and struggle exuberantly. Beethoven’s symphonies provoked a response from all […] Read more

Beethoven wrote hundreds of symphonies that rival the nine great compositions in emotional connection and popularity. He submerged us in the sound of authentic beauty that could portray exuberance and struggle, express problems, and relay emotions. A Beethoven symphony takes music off the pedestal of formality and reaches the heart of humanity. His contribution is […] Read more